InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ For Such a Time As This ❯ The Best Laid Plans ( Chapter 6 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Wingson 
Here it is! The plan that works! Sorta.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 11.01.2003 | Pages: 5 | Words: 7.0K | Visits: 469 | Status: Completed
Here it is! The plan that works! Sorta.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 11.01.2003 | Pages: 5 | Words: 7.0K | Visits: 469 | Status: Completed
Disclaimer: *rubs hands together, cackling madly* Soon... soon I will own Inuyasha! But... not yet.
Warnings: Death, destruction and mayhem. Kouga, Sesshomaru, Inuyasha, and Kagura locked in a tiny clearing. Definite character death *coughNarakucough*. Wingsong's attempt at angst. (Gah! RUN!)
Translations:
Sayonara: Farewell, in an "I am not going to see you for a really long time so best wishes" manner
Yosh! : exclamation usually used to clear the mind before starting on some new project.
Aneue: older version of older sister, usually translated as "most honorable older sister"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
For Such a Time as This
Chapter 6: The Best Laid Plans
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"The best laid plans/Of mice and men/Do often go awry..." -Robert Burns
* * *
It was dark, and silent.
She knew that, just as she knew that this wasn't the dark of her closed eyes, or the silence of a peaceful evening. This was the calm before the storm, the moment right before a youkai attack.
Knowing this, she tensed, readying her defenses, meager as they were. Somehow, just as she knew that this place wasn't natural, she knew that here, there would be no one to save her. Whatever was coming would probably kill her, and she had no one to rely on but herself.
Far off in the distance voices could be heard. She knew them by the timber of the sound, by the music each sentence made, but she could not distinguish what they were saying. Miroku was there, as was Kaede and her mother. She could even distinguish her own voice amongst the multitude, and that was when she realized that the voices were getting closer.
Suddenly she could see them, and they were hurtling towards her. She screamed and braced herself for the impact, but it never came. Opening her eyes, she saw that they had stopped about three feet from her, completely surrounding her. At no visible signal, they began to speak. One voice would barely finish before another would begin, tripping over the other's words.
"The most important thing..." Kikyo.
"Direction..." Kouga.
"And focus." Sesshomaru.
"Without these things..." Inuyasha.
"You could hurt Shippo, or Inuyasha." Shippo.
Kikyo snapped a finger, and a globe of pink light appeared. Shippo and Kouga appeared in a burst of sparks. Sesshomaru and Inuyasha lasted a little longer, enough for them to scream in silence. She reached out a hand, as if to protect them, screaming when they could not.
"There are many different types of barriers..." Mama.
"Miko's protection not meant to go against miko's power." Rin.
"Works on a limited basis, if the spell were attached to a physical object..." Sango.
"It would be easier if it were Kikyo... more space for powers to mature." Kaede.
Kikyo raised her hand angrily. With a snap they, too, were gone. All that remained were Miroku, Kikyo, and an image of herself. She buried her face in her hands.
"You have many variables to work with..." Miroku. Kikyo snapped, and he exploded.
"Then the question is..." Her own image was speaking, but she soon fell to Kikyo.
"Are you willing..." She looked up to find Kikyo speaking directly to her. "...to kill yourself..." The miko raised her hand, her fingers posed to snap. "...to save them?"
Kikyo looked over her shoulder, and she looked back to find everyone behind her. Turning back around, she suddenly realized that that last snap was not meant for her. She launched herself at the other woman, desperately trying to stop her.
And Kikyo snapped.
Kagome bolted awake, gasping, her blood pounding in her ears. She had never had such a dream before. Well, not since she had gotten caught in the time loop at least. The dream hadn't been scary, exactly, more creepy, but the images refused to leave. Whenever she closed her eyes she saw them exploding, one by one.
Wearily, she looked on her desk for the journal, wondering if her awful idea from the precious day had had any effect. Her journal wasn't on her desk. Frowning, she searched for it, finally finding it where she had first seen it, mixed amongst her textbooks. Steeling herself, she opened the book.
It was empty. No pages on Shippo, or on Kouga, Kirara, Sesshomaru, Kohaku, nor Inuyasha. She released her held breath. She started to smile, then grin, then chuckle, then laugh. She hugged the journal to herself and spun around the room. She had done it! They were all alive!
She burst out of her room and started to run to the kitchen, eager to share her news with her mom. About halfway down the stairs she heard a crash. If it were possible that she could go any faster, she would have. As it was, she arrived at the kitchen to find her mother staring in shock at her backpack. The crash had come from a falling plate. Apparently her mother had spotted her bag, which was tucked away in a corner, and had stopped, not noticing when the plate crashed at her feet.
"Mama?" Kagome asked. "Are you okay?"
Her mother stiffened and turned around slowly. Once she spotted Kagome, in an instant she was across the kitchen and squeezing the living daylights out of her. This was a hug like she hadn't gotten since she was very small, when her father had died.
"What's wrong?" She asked breathlessly when the hug let up some.
Her mother broke the embrace to stare directly into her daughter's face. "Three months," she said, shaking Kagome for emphasis. "Three months with no word, not an idea if you were dead or alive. Don't do that again. Don't ever do that again." She reached out and enveloped her in a hug again.
Kagome was in shock. She hadn't been back in three months? But yesterday she was sure that Miroku had gotten her to the well. Otherwise she would have died. But she was alive now, so she must have gone to the well. Then why would she stay away for three months? Something was wrong.
"Mama," she said apologetically, "I can't stay for long. I'm sorry I was not here for three months without word. We," she paused, an idea coming to mind. "We heard rumors of a shard, and it took us longer than usual to check it out. I am just stopping here for supplies. I came in late last night and did not want to disturb you."
"Can you stay long enough for breakfast?" her mother asked.
Kagome's stomach grumbled, and mother and daughter grinned. They had a long talk over breakfast that strained Kagome's imagination. Her mother wanted to know everything about the previous three months; everything that Kagome didn't know. Several times she caught herself in a loop, but her mother never seemed to notice. She began to get a little restless as noon came closer and closer. She might not know what had happened during the previous three months, but those on the other side of the well would, and she needed answers. Finally, with one final bone-crushing hug, her mom sent her off to the well.
When she arrived on the other side, Kagome tentatively called up, "Is anybody there to help me out?"
Sango's head appeared in the opening, but Kagome didn't hear her words. It looked like she was not going to get her answers at all. She was still stuck in the time loop! It wasn't fair! She had saved everybody but was still stuck in the loop. Actually, she didn't really know if she had saved anybody. The journal had been in its original place when she woke up, and according to her mother she had not been back the previous day. She might have just not been able to write in the journal yet.
What was she going to do now? She was completely out of ideas. Having concluded yesterday that she could not exclude any of the others from the battle three months from now, her creative juices were dried up. The only conclusion to make was that she could do nothing today to lessen the damage of a battle that would happen three months in the future. There were just too many variables involved, and too much time between her actions and the results.
Thinking such thoughts, she was hardly prepared for Naraku's vision. The sounds, smells, and sights of the broken battle field came back to her full force. Most chilling of all, however, was the words at the end.
"Give yourself and your shards up to me, girl, and I will spare them. If I can reach you here, who says that I cannot make these visions true?"
She snapped out of the vision, abruptly struck with another idea. She could not positively affect the final battle simply because it was so far away from her current position in time. But what if she brought the battle to this time? Her powers were still not mature, so supposedly she could trigger the very same explosion now.
"Kagome-chan?" Sango said, perplexed at her friend's sudden stop.
Kagome blinked and looked at Sango. "Could you go get Miroku-sama?" she asked. "I have some questions for him."
Sango nodded, still a little confused. After agreeing to meet back at the hut, the two girls went their separate ways. Kagome managed to get her bag into the hut before going out to deal with Inuyasha and Shippo. By that time Miroku had arrived with Sango.
Kagome turned to him. "How far away," she asked, "can you be to send a vision to someone else?"
"For just a vision?" Miroku said. "Not very far, unless you are extremely powerful and very familiar with your subject. Visions are one of the few spells that are unaffected by aids such as the Shikon no Tama."
Kagome nodded. 'So in addition to everyone I want to save,' she thought. 'The one person I want to kill is near today as well.' Coming to a decision, she looked directly at Miroku and Kaede, who had come out of the hut.
"Teach me about barriers."
* * *
Thus began a month of intensive training, at least on Kagome's part. Every day she had to convince Miroku and Kaede of her knowledge, but every day she learned a little more. Her barriers developed a little strangely, she thought at first. Having Naraku's purple and black barriers as her only basis for comparison, she was surprised when hers were streaked with orange. But Miroku explained that the barriers reflected the personalities of their creators, so it wasn't unusual to have some color variation. In that month she learned every type of barrier imaginable.
The spell to protect against miko powers was harder. Any ofudas she tried either disintegrated upon contact with Shippo (her test dummy) or blew up when she touched it with her miko power. She finally started working with Kaede and rosaries, of which, thankfully, the miko had at least ten.
Once she had perfected those spells, she went on to what was perhaps the most difficult aspect of the preparations for her master plan. She used the Shikon shards, bound up in her own aura, to locate the other Shikon shards. It took at least an additional month of stretching her powers to their absolute limit to locate any that weren't already in Naraku's hands. She knew about the ones with Kouga and Kohaku, as well as the one on the youkai tree, but she needed to find the others. The total she finally came up with was pathetic. She had the potential of five shards at her command. One at the demon tree, one that would eventually fall to Naraku, her two, and one extra. Five shards. She almost gave up then and there, but remembered that this battle did not care about shards, merely her maturing powers.
That thought brought forth another. Miroku had said, back when she was trying to decide whether to kill Kikyo, that he wasn't sure her powers would mature without the other part of her soul. She would have to get Kikyo to cooperate with her for any of this to work. But what could she offer to Kikyo that would get her to agree?
Suddenly, she knew exactly what she could offer, but she would need some more information first. Almost as soon as she was out of the well one day she asked Sango if she could borrow Kirara. Once the fire cat had transformed, she directed her to the Northeast, searching out a particular person. Enju, the potter for the witch Urusae, was the only one she knew of that could give her the answers she was looking for. Thankfully, they found her midway though the afternoon, and she and Kagome had a long discussion of the properties of the clay bodies of the undead. Satisfied with her answers, she directed Kirara back to the village, barely managing to stay awake for the entire ride back. She collapsed in the hut, exhausted, not even caring that tomorrow would be the big day.
* * *
When Kagome woke the next day she didn't even spare a glance at the journal. She hadn't for the two months she had been training, knowing that it would only depress her further. Instead, she pulled on her school uniform and headed down to get some breakfast.
Ji-chan, Souta, and her mother watched, amazed, as Kagome not only had seconds, but thirds and fourths as well. When she held out her bowl for a fifth helping, her brother finally asked, "What's the matter, nechan? You don't have any tests, and you're practically caught up on your school work."
"I need my energy. Today," she paused, and her eyes got a faraway look. "Today everything will change. The past and the future. I will need my strength."
She quickly finished off her last bowl and headed to the kitchen to clean up her dishes. Once done, she returned to the breakfast room and gave each of her family members a long hug. When she got to her mom, she whispered, "Thank you, Mama, for all the times you've supported me since this whole mess started."
"Kagome?" Her mother sounded a little worried. "You sound as if you are never coming back."
Kagome stiffened ever so slightly. Pulling out of the embrace, she flashed her mother a brilliant smile. "Why would you say that, Mama? Of course I'm coming back."
With that she grabbed her bag and headed to the well house. Once inside, she paused and took one last look at her home. "I'm sorry," she said. "It has to be this way. Sayonara."
She jumped into the well. Only when she got to the other side did she allow a few tears to escape. Scolding herself furiously, she wiped away the tears. "Yosh!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands. "Let's get this day started."
"Is anybody there to help me out?" she called.
Sango's head appeared, and after the usual words were spoken, she helped her out of the well. If Sango was curious about her silence and concentration, she said nothing about it. Kagome was mentally preparing for the first step in her plan. She wouldn't have thought it possible, but over the past two months she had gotten used to Naraku's vision. She hadn't seen it yesterday, perhaps because she had been riding Kirara far away by then, and she hoped that the missed day would give her some perspective.
It did. The vision had just as much affect as the first time. Her blood ran cold at the mere pieces of her friends that she could see. But it turned to ice at Naraku's words.
When the words faded, she called out desperately in her mind, 'Wait! I'll... go. I'll give myself up to you. But you must promise not to hurt them!'
"Of course, girl," said Naraku, his oily voice dripping down her nerves. "I give my word!"
'Can...' she paused, for this was a crucial point. 'Can I make one request?'
"What?" Naraku asked, amused.
'Kohaku,' Kagome thought, letting her mental voice tremble. 'Let Sango see Kohaku, without his attacking her, when Kagura comes to g-get me.'
"I think I can manage that," Naraku said with a chuckle.
'Thank you,' Kagome hated the groveling note in her voice, but recognized the necessity for it. 'I will be at the Goshinboku when the sun sets.'
"I will send the boy with Kagura at that time," her enemy said, practically crowing with triumph.
Kagome opened her eyes to find herself shaking and Sango looking at her in concern. "It's nothing," she said. "Just the first successful step in a very complex plan."
Sango would have to content herself with that, for Kagome would say no more. Instead, she practically ran to Kaede's hut and threw her bag down beside it. Digging through the bag, she came up with the jar of Shikon shards. Quickly, she knelt and formed a barrier around herself, questing for the first shard. It was the closest, the one inside the youkai tree. Reaching out carefully, she plucked the shard and called it to her. Having practiced for weeks, the shard came easily to her bidding. It even dissolved the barrier as it arrived in her hand.
She blinked herself out of the meditation and looked for Kouga, hoping she hadn't been too late. She needn't have worried. Inuyasha and Kouga were still fighting. From their positions she could guess that Kouga had tried to disturb her, but Inuyasha had blocked him before he could. Stretching sore muscles, she calmly stepped into the middle of the fight.
"Stop, Kouga, Inuyasha," she called. She hoped that the lack of honorifics would at least give them pause. When it did, she continued, "I don't have time for this now. Kouga-kun, could you come back at sunset? I'll be at the Goshinboku."
This earned at quick agreement and a smirk of triumph from the wolf. Inuyasha started growling, but after Kouga had left, Kagome assured him that he would be there, too. That issue settled, she reached for the shards again. This time she gave Shippo firm instructions to disturb her if another fight occurred. The second shard was farther away, and she wanted to be certain not to miss Sesshomaru. However, she needn't have worried so much. Three shards worked far better than the two she had previously had, and she was able to extract the shard that would eventually go to Kikyo and reunite it with the others shortly. She even had time for a little lunch before Sesshomaru arrived.
When he did show up, she started running immediately. Even so, she reached the clearing where Rin and Jaken waited just ahead of Naraku's youkai. It seemed that his 'promise' of no harm did not extend to the young human girl, not that she had expected it to.
"Rin!" she gasped. "You are in danger here! We have to go to Sesshomaru-sama now!"
"How do you know Rin's name?" the little girl asked.
"Fluffy-sama told me," Kagome said, remembering what had persuaded Rin all those months ago.
The child went to her just as the youkai burst into the clearing. This time on the way back she ran into Miroku and Sango. She barely paused in her flight, but heard them begin to guard her rear. Finally she made it back to Inuyasha and Sesshomaru and dove for the youkai lord. She allowed herself to catch her breath while the others dealt with the rest of the youkai.
"Rin," Sesshomaru summoned when the battle was over. The little girl detached herself from Kagome and trotted over. Sesshomaru checked the girl visually for injuries, then turned to Kagome. "How?" he asked.
Kagome extended her aura so that it just barely touched the lord's youki. "I just knew," she said. "I would discuss this with you further, Sesshomaru-sama. Can you come to the Goshinboku this evening at sunset?"
Sesshomaru quirked an eyebrow at the honorific, but nodded in acceptance. Kagome bowed as he left to collect Jaken.
Inuyasha turned to Kagome as soon as his brother was gone. "What's all this about sunset?"
"The second stage in a plan to save everyone," Kagome replied.
She settled down by the just to collect the last shard. This one was the hardest to find, and not even her extra two shards could help. She quested all afternoon, and just before dinner managed to call the shard to her. She sighed in exhaustion. Nothing could have prepared her for the amount of work she had done today. Her stomach reminded her that she had had very little food since early this morning, and she stood, stretched, and walked into the hut in search of food.
The others were already eating when she got in, but she tossed the jar of shards at Inuyasha anyway. He caught it reflexively and looked at her questioningly.
"It's part of what I've been doing all day," Kagome said, accepting a bowl from Kaede and the jar from Inuyasha. "Right there are all the Shikon shards that had yet to be collected. Two on Kouga, one on Kohaku, and Naraku has the rest."
She ate her dinner, aware that the others were staring at her open mouthed. Once done, she excused herself and went to change into miko robes and prepare the rosaries. Carrying them and her school clothes under one arm, she stuck her head back into the hut. "The sun has almost set," she said. "Shall we go to the Goshinboku?"
The others gathered their things and followed her. When they reached the clearing she leaned against the tree. Slowly she built a complex barrier and extended it through out the clearing.
"This barrier protects against evil actions," she said. "Any action given with evil intent will be reflected on the giver." At their perplexed looks she sighed. "Miroku-sama," she said resignedly, "Grope me."
Miroku's eyes widened, but he moved to comply. As his hand connected with her butt his eyes widened even further, and he spun around. Kagome burst out laughing. At the others questioning looks she explained, "He felt his own hand on his own butt!"
Sango began to giggle merrily and even Kirara seemed to be chuckling at the monk's predicament. Kagome stiffened after a while, for the first of the visitors had arrived.
Kouga.
After giving the proper warnings, he was invited inside. He glanced around before turning to Kagome. "What did you want with me here?" he asked.
"I need your shards," Kagome said. "I know that they won't be returned, but I can almost guarantee the destruction of Naraku if you give them up."
Kouga thought for a while, then shrugged and agreed. As Kagome was removing the shards from Kouga's legs, Inuyasha burst out with, "What the hell? Why the fuck are you giving them up so easily? I was supposed to beat them out of you!"
Kouga blinked coolly at the hanyou. "*You* aren't my woman," he replied blandly.
Inuyasha was saved from a response by the arrival of his brother. The warnings given, he stepped into the clearing with Rin and Jaken. Rin spotted Kouga and hid behind Sesshomaru. Kagome was confused for a second, but then remembered something. Almost smacking herself on the head for her forgetfulness, she slowly approached Rin. Kneeling down, she said, "Hello Rin, do you remember me from this afternoon?"
Rin nodded. "You are the one that saved Rin's life."
"My name is Kagome," she extended a hand. "I would like you to meet someone."
The child tentatively took her hand, and Kagome led her over to Kouga. "You remember him, too, don't you?" she asked when Rin hid in her robes.
"Yes, Kagome-nesan," Rin said. "He told the bad wolves to go after Rin."
There was a soft growling behind them, but a firm glance at the barrier reminded Sesshomaru of the results of any action on his part. Kagome gently brought the girl in front of her.
"He's not a bad guy anymore, Rin. He's saved my life many times, and he doesn't hurt humans anymore. In fact, he is the reason you travel with Sesshomaru-sama now. He won't hurt you anymore, I promise." A glance up at Kouga had him nodding in agreement.
"Really?" Rin asked.
"I swear," Kagome replied.
"Okay!" Rin exclaimed, and trotted back to Sesshomaru.
Kagome stood, facing Sesshomaru, and to everyone's apparent surprise began growling at him. There was complete silence when she finished.
The youkai lord was the first to recover from the shock. "How do you know those words?" he asked. "I never granted you a debt."
There was a sharp intake of breath from Sango, but Kagome replied calmly, "Yes you did. I am from the future, a future where Rin truly was kidnapped today. I allowed myself to be tortured instead of her for the month we were confined together. When you discovered this, you took great pains to teach me the pronunciation, so I could redeem the debt from any dog demon. I redeem it now from you."
"What do you require?" Sesshomaru said.
"In a little bit," she said, "a boy will come to this clearing, one that is severely injured. He will die, and all I require is that you heal him."
During the pause while Sesshomaru thought, Jaken protested. "It is absolutely absurd that Sesshomaru-sama should be in debt to a human. Lord, she is obviously making this up. We should go-"
"Alright," Sesshomaru nodded. "The Tenseiga seems to want it, and the sword has never led this Sesshomaru wrong before." He was staring at Rin as he said this.
Kagome released a breath that she didn't even realize she had been holding, only to catch it again as the soul stealers signaled the arrival of the third guest. Kikyo stood at the edge of the barrier, studying it.
"You recognize the barrier?" Kagome asked. "You will not be harmed, but you will not harm either."
Kikyo looked at her reincarnate for a long moment before slowly stepping past the barrier. She moved to the center of the clearing, saying in a challenging tone, "This is an interesting assortment of people you have here."
Kagome met her at the center of the clearing. Placing a hand on the other other's chest, she began to call her soul back to herself. Kikyo's arm snapped up to the younger girl's chest, resisting the change. Both girls stiffened and closed their eyes.
Kagome's eyes opened to find a very angry Inuyasha facing off with her. Behind him Kikyo had been thrown to the ground. She took a step back. She hadn't been this scared of Inuyasha since before the rosary was put on him. "Dammit, Kikyo!" he yelled. "What have you done to her? I swear, Kikyo, if you gave done anything..." he trailed off, speechless in his rage.
'What?' she thought. 'Oh, he thinks I'm...' "Kikyo, Kikyo, Kikyo," Kagome said softly. "Listen, you, my name is Kagome, KA-GO-ME!"
All of this was said in a near whisper, but it seemed to floor Inuyasha. He glanced at the miko behind him then at the creation of clay before him. "Kagome?" he whispered doubtfully.
She nodded and went to help Kikyo to her feet. "Are you okay?" she asked the miko.
"Yes," she said, "but why? Why do this?"
"Three reasons," she said. "One, he loves you, and you two never got a chance. I am not of this time, and you belong here. I was never supposed to be here in the first place. Two, something that you said when we first talked. I had just told you of Naraku's deception, and you responded with, 'The dead only wish for life again.' Third, it was the only way for the plan to work, short of killing you."
"Plan?" Kikyo asked, but apparently Kagome's memories were surfacing in Kikyo's mind, because she had no ears for any answer Kagome might give.
Satisfied that she was reviewing the plan, Kagome went to her clothes. Casting a quick glance at Miroku, she brought up a barrier that was really nothing more than pretty lights, but allowed her the privacy to change. Once in her school uniform, she concentrated, hard, on the clay body she currently inhabited. If Enju was correct, then she should be able to... she felt the change, her hair shortened, her skin got a little tanner, and her whole body seemed to settle at age 15 again. It seemed that the clay bodies responded to the souls within them, not the original casting. Satisfied with her appearance, she let down the barrier and looked across at Kikyo.
The miko shrugged. "It is a good plan," she said. "If Kagura will agree then it might even work. But, girl, have you thought, with that body-"
"I know," Kagome interrupted.
Kikyo shrugged again. "What have we got to lose?"
"Shippo," Kagome responded. "Kouga, Kirara, Sesshomaru, Rin-"
Kikyo cut her off with a hand jerk. Kagome started over to Kikyo, but halfway there she stumbled and fell. She glanced up to see the soul stealers circling above, ready with souls to fill her body. Shaking her head violently, she refused to let them in.
"Come on, child," Kikyo said, suddenly there with her arms around her. "You just gave me a whole list of very good reasons to succeed, but you will fail if you can't move. Besides," she whispered, "they will not be used for long, you know that."
Shuddering, Kagome nodded, and the soul stealers were let in. They left quickly after doing their work, leaving the girl on the ground, her frame racked with dry sobs. Slowly, Kagome sat up, but her eyes were dry. "I can't cry," she said. "This body won't allow me to." She turned to Kikyo, and raised a hand to the other's cheek. "You're crying for me."
Kikyo blinked sharply, unashamed of the tears running down her face. "So, I am," she said, and paused in wonder. "It's been so long."
The moment did not last long, for Kagura and Kohaku had finally come.
"Kagome," Kouga practically spit her name out. "You didn't say she would be here." He made 'she' into an expletive. He prepared to fight.
"Remember the barrier Kouga-kun," Kagome snapped. "You two can kill each other after I'm done with you."
She turned back to Naraku's minions. The explanation of the barrier was given, and they, too, accepted the condition and entered. Kohaku immediately jumped off the feather and stood, more like a doll then a living boy. Sango choked her breath on a sob. Kagome waked over and plucked the shard from the boy's back, allowing him to die in her arms. She glanced at Sesshomaru, but the youkai already had his sword out and ready to strike. Kagome laid the boy on the ground, and Sesshomaru swiped the sword over his body. Almost immediately the boy's eyes opened.
"Aneue?" he questioned. Sango came barreling in from the side, and many explanations and apologies were given before he cried himself to sleep.
Kagome, meanwhile, had turned to Kagura and offered her her freedom. Kagura agreed to the plan, and Kagome went to gather to the rosaries from the base of the Goshinboku.
"Here is the plan," she said as she passed rosaries to Jaken, Sesshomaru and Kouga. "Kagura will take me and the shards to Naraku, then hurry back here. I will complete the Shikon no Tama, then Kikyo and I will combine auras to make my powers mature, killing Naraku. Miroku will concentrate on a spell in these rosaries, protecting the youkai here from my miko power." She paused, thinking. "You might want to put Tetsusaiga and Tenseiga in the ground in Naraku's direction, as additional protection."
She knelt in front of Shippo. "I want to go with you," the little fox said.
"Shippo-chan, it is far too dangerous," she said. "But remember, I will always be with you, in your heart." She slipped some beads over his neck.
She turned next to Inuyasha. "Don't," he said, pleading. "It's dangerous for you as well."
"I watched all of you die the first time, Inuyasha," she said. "But in case this doesn't work," she pulled the rosary off of his neck, "and he some how manages to control me, I don't want to have any special power over you."
She kissed his cheek, gave him one of the protection rosaries, and turned to Sango. "Thank you so much," Sango said.
Kagome slipped a necklace over Kirara's head. "You watch over both of them for me," she told the cat. Turning to Sango, she said, "Remember that he does love you." She indicated Miroku with her head. "And when this is all over, hit him once for groping me."
Finally, she turned to Miroku. "That body is clay," he started, but Kagome was already nodding.
She gathered his right hand in her own. "If this doesn't work," she said, "the nearest date I can give you is three months from now. But I have no idea if that was the curse itself or Naraku's doing. In any case, my advice would be to love her while you can. It is infinitely preferable to the alternative, which is never to know love."
Miroku nodded, and Kagome joined Kagura, who was waiting impatiently on her feather. Kagome released the barrier, and they started off towards Naraku. As they flew, Kagome handed the two remaining rosaries to Kagura. At her raised eyebrow, Kagome said, "For you and Kanna. I assumed that you wanted to save you sister."
Kagura nodded. "How can you be sure that Naraku doesn't know?" she asked. "My sister could have been spying on us the entire time."
"She was trying, but she couldn't make it through the barrier. He doesn't know. Be sure not to put the rosaries on until you get back to the clearing," she said. "It will be my signal to begin."
They arrived at the castle, and Kagura led Kagome to Naraku's chambers. A glance from Naraku had her leaving.
"Well?" said Naraku, leering at her in her uniform. "Where are they?"
Kagome blinked, and then fished out the eight shards she had collected. Reaching out a hand, she called the rest to her and completed the jewel. She stared at the ball in her hand. After all of that work, months and months of preparation, it seemed a little anticlimactic to simply complete it like that. The first time had involved a large light show and a huge power struggle, but it seemed that Naraku was willing to let her keep it for a bit. After all, he thought that she was completely in his power, and she was not doing anything to purify the jewel yet.
She wandered the room, waiting for her signal and trying to ignore Naraku as much as possible. She was nervous, but as she stared around the room she realized something. Despite what she told Kikyo earlier, she did need to be here. Naraku had given this vision to her, not Kikyo. She, Higarashi Kagome, was the only one who could do this, at this time, in this place. She seemed to have been brought back to the past on her 15th birthday solely for such a time as this.
She located Kagura's and Kanna's hearts almost immediately, so when the signal came, she grabbed them close. As Myoga had saved himself in the final battle, she clutched the jars with the hearts as close as she could to herself, protecting them from danger. The power surged around her, purifying the Shikon no Tama and her own body. After all, the undead were impure.
And she exploded in a blast of pink light.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The End
A/N: Ok, so the dream sequence at the beginning took five major revisions, but the rest went pretty smoothly. I think. My attempts at angst may fall woefully short, but oh well. Some of the jokes just popped in with out my approval, so blame me writing at 2 in the morning if you don't like some of them.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Review responces
FF.net
Sammyosa92: glad you liked it last time. So here's my attempt at angst. I seem to be much better at fluff.
Sarah H : Glad you liked it!
Ghoul King: Is that strange in a good way? In any case, here is another chapter for you to puzzle over.
Kaagome: favs lists are wonderful things. Especially when I go to my author page and see more people have listed me there. YAY! Thanks.
nekomoongirl: ummmm....sorry? But it was supposed to make you cry! She died!
Aamalie: That was the last "day" in this fic. So what happens from now on.....is really interesting.
Dark Hanyou: You sneaked in just in time for this chapter! I seriously was going to talk with my beta reader when your review appeared in my mail box! I update once a week though, so don't be expecting the next chapter till next weekend!
Media Miner
Black Rose Lady: Well...I kinda ripped out a couple of plotlines and reversed them, so its not really original, I think. And you can thank my beta reader, Lori, for the grammar stuff. (I am merely a typo nazi, I know nothing about grammer). I am updating as quick as I possibly can! I promise!
Aditu: You were right. I knew that I hadn't written myself into a corner, but I wanted to fake everybody out. And yes, last chapter's cliffhanger will come in handy in the next chapter, which is *Gasp* nearly all in Kikyo's perspective! WAAAAAAA! I am gonna need psychiatric care after this!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Too tired for parodies
WS
PS: was just kidding bout the "The End" really. Don't flame me for that please!
Warnings: Death, destruction and mayhem. Kouga, Sesshomaru, Inuyasha, and Kagura locked in a tiny clearing. Definite character death *coughNarakucough*. Wingsong's attempt at angst. (Gah! RUN!)
Translations:
Sayonara: Farewell, in an "I am not going to see you for a really long time so best wishes" manner
Yosh! : exclamation usually used to clear the mind before starting on some new project.
Aneue: older version of older sister, usually translated as "most honorable older sister"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
For Such a Time as This
Chapter 6: The Best Laid Plans
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"The best laid plans/Of mice and men/Do often go awry..." -Robert Burns
* * *
It was dark, and silent.
She knew that, just as she knew that this wasn't the dark of her closed eyes, or the silence of a peaceful evening. This was the calm before the storm, the moment right before a youkai attack.
Knowing this, she tensed, readying her defenses, meager as they were. Somehow, just as she knew that this place wasn't natural, she knew that here, there would be no one to save her. Whatever was coming would probably kill her, and she had no one to rely on but herself.
Far off in the distance voices could be heard. She knew them by the timber of the sound, by the music each sentence made, but she could not distinguish what they were saying. Miroku was there, as was Kaede and her mother. She could even distinguish her own voice amongst the multitude, and that was when she realized that the voices were getting closer.
Suddenly she could see them, and they were hurtling towards her. She screamed and braced herself for the impact, but it never came. Opening her eyes, she saw that they had stopped about three feet from her, completely surrounding her. At no visible signal, they began to speak. One voice would barely finish before another would begin, tripping over the other's words.
"The most important thing..." Kikyo.
"Direction..." Kouga.
"And focus." Sesshomaru.
"Without these things..." Inuyasha.
"You could hurt Shippo, or Inuyasha." Shippo.
Kikyo snapped a finger, and a globe of pink light appeared. Shippo and Kouga appeared in a burst of sparks. Sesshomaru and Inuyasha lasted a little longer, enough for them to scream in silence. She reached out a hand, as if to protect them, screaming when they could not.
"There are many different types of barriers..." Mama.
"Miko's protection not meant to go against miko's power." Rin.
"Works on a limited basis, if the spell were attached to a physical object..." Sango.
"It would be easier if it were Kikyo... more space for powers to mature." Kaede.
Kikyo raised her hand angrily. With a snap they, too, were gone. All that remained were Miroku, Kikyo, and an image of herself. She buried her face in her hands.
"You have many variables to work with..." Miroku. Kikyo snapped, and he exploded.
"Then the question is..." Her own image was speaking, but she soon fell to Kikyo.
"Are you willing..." She looked up to find Kikyo speaking directly to her. "...to kill yourself..." The miko raised her hand, her fingers posed to snap. "...to save them?"
Kikyo looked over her shoulder, and she looked back to find everyone behind her. Turning back around, she suddenly realized that that last snap was not meant for her. She launched herself at the other woman, desperately trying to stop her.
And Kikyo snapped.
Kagome bolted awake, gasping, her blood pounding in her ears. She had never had such a dream before. Well, not since she had gotten caught in the time loop at least. The dream hadn't been scary, exactly, more creepy, but the images refused to leave. Whenever she closed her eyes she saw them exploding, one by one.
Wearily, she looked on her desk for the journal, wondering if her awful idea from the precious day had had any effect. Her journal wasn't on her desk. Frowning, she searched for it, finally finding it where she had first seen it, mixed amongst her textbooks. Steeling herself, she opened the book.
It was empty. No pages on Shippo, or on Kouga, Kirara, Sesshomaru, Kohaku, nor Inuyasha. She released her held breath. She started to smile, then grin, then chuckle, then laugh. She hugged the journal to herself and spun around the room. She had done it! They were all alive!
She burst out of her room and started to run to the kitchen, eager to share her news with her mom. About halfway down the stairs she heard a crash. If it were possible that she could go any faster, she would have. As it was, she arrived at the kitchen to find her mother staring in shock at her backpack. The crash had come from a falling plate. Apparently her mother had spotted her bag, which was tucked away in a corner, and had stopped, not noticing when the plate crashed at her feet.
"Mama?" Kagome asked. "Are you okay?"
Her mother stiffened and turned around slowly. Once she spotted Kagome, in an instant she was across the kitchen and squeezing the living daylights out of her. This was a hug like she hadn't gotten since she was very small, when her father had died.
"What's wrong?" She asked breathlessly when the hug let up some.
Her mother broke the embrace to stare directly into her daughter's face. "Three months," she said, shaking Kagome for emphasis. "Three months with no word, not an idea if you were dead or alive. Don't do that again. Don't ever do that again." She reached out and enveloped her in a hug again.
Kagome was in shock. She hadn't been back in three months? But yesterday she was sure that Miroku had gotten her to the well. Otherwise she would have died. But she was alive now, so she must have gone to the well. Then why would she stay away for three months? Something was wrong.
"Mama," she said apologetically, "I can't stay for long. I'm sorry I was not here for three months without word. We," she paused, an idea coming to mind. "We heard rumors of a shard, and it took us longer than usual to check it out. I am just stopping here for supplies. I came in late last night and did not want to disturb you."
"Can you stay long enough for breakfast?" her mother asked.
Kagome's stomach grumbled, and mother and daughter grinned. They had a long talk over breakfast that strained Kagome's imagination. Her mother wanted to know everything about the previous three months; everything that Kagome didn't know. Several times she caught herself in a loop, but her mother never seemed to notice. She began to get a little restless as noon came closer and closer. She might not know what had happened during the previous three months, but those on the other side of the well would, and she needed answers. Finally, with one final bone-crushing hug, her mom sent her off to the well.
When she arrived on the other side, Kagome tentatively called up, "Is anybody there to help me out?"
Sango's head appeared in the opening, but Kagome didn't hear her words. It looked like she was not going to get her answers at all. She was still stuck in the time loop! It wasn't fair! She had saved everybody but was still stuck in the loop. Actually, she didn't really know if she had saved anybody. The journal had been in its original place when she woke up, and according to her mother she had not been back the previous day. She might have just not been able to write in the journal yet.
What was she going to do now? She was completely out of ideas. Having concluded yesterday that she could not exclude any of the others from the battle three months from now, her creative juices were dried up. The only conclusion to make was that she could do nothing today to lessen the damage of a battle that would happen three months in the future. There were just too many variables involved, and too much time between her actions and the results.
Thinking such thoughts, she was hardly prepared for Naraku's vision. The sounds, smells, and sights of the broken battle field came back to her full force. Most chilling of all, however, was the words at the end.
"Give yourself and your shards up to me, girl, and I will spare them. If I can reach you here, who says that I cannot make these visions true?"
She snapped out of the vision, abruptly struck with another idea. She could not positively affect the final battle simply because it was so far away from her current position in time. But what if she brought the battle to this time? Her powers were still not mature, so supposedly she could trigger the very same explosion now.
"Kagome-chan?" Sango said, perplexed at her friend's sudden stop.
Kagome blinked and looked at Sango. "Could you go get Miroku-sama?" she asked. "I have some questions for him."
Sango nodded, still a little confused. After agreeing to meet back at the hut, the two girls went their separate ways. Kagome managed to get her bag into the hut before going out to deal with Inuyasha and Shippo. By that time Miroku had arrived with Sango.
Kagome turned to him. "How far away," she asked, "can you be to send a vision to someone else?"
"For just a vision?" Miroku said. "Not very far, unless you are extremely powerful and very familiar with your subject. Visions are one of the few spells that are unaffected by aids such as the Shikon no Tama."
Kagome nodded. 'So in addition to everyone I want to save,' she thought. 'The one person I want to kill is near today as well.' Coming to a decision, she looked directly at Miroku and Kaede, who had come out of the hut.
"Teach me about barriers."
* * *
Thus began a month of intensive training, at least on Kagome's part. Every day she had to convince Miroku and Kaede of her knowledge, but every day she learned a little more. Her barriers developed a little strangely, she thought at first. Having Naraku's purple and black barriers as her only basis for comparison, she was surprised when hers were streaked with orange. But Miroku explained that the barriers reflected the personalities of their creators, so it wasn't unusual to have some color variation. In that month she learned every type of barrier imaginable.
The spell to protect against miko powers was harder. Any ofudas she tried either disintegrated upon contact with Shippo (her test dummy) or blew up when she touched it with her miko power. She finally started working with Kaede and rosaries, of which, thankfully, the miko had at least ten.
Once she had perfected those spells, she went on to what was perhaps the most difficult aspect of the preparations for her master plan. She used the Shikon shards, bound up in her own aura, to locate the other Shikon shards. It took at least an additional month of stretching her powers to their absolute limit to locate any that weren't already in Naraku's hands. She knew about the ones with Kouga and Kohaku, as well as the one on the youkai tree, but she needed to find the others. The total she finally came up with was pathetic. She had the potential of five shards at her command. One at the demon tree, one that would eventually fall to Naraku, her two, and one extra. Five shards. She almost gave up then and there, but remembered that this battle did not care about shards, merely her maturing powers.
That thought brought forth another. Miroku had said, back when she was trying to decide whether to kill Kikyo, that he wasn't sure her powers would mature without the other part of her soul. She would have to get Kikyo to cooperate with her for any of this to work. But what could she offer to Kikyo that would get her to agree?
Suddenly, she knew exactly what she could offer, but she would need some more information first. Almost as soon as she was out of the well one day she asked Sango if she could borrow Kirara. Once the fire cat had transformed, she directed her to the Northeast, searching out a particular person. Enju, the potter for the witch Urusae, was the only one she knew of that could give her the answers she was looking for. Thankfully, they found her midway though the afternoon, and she and Kagome had a long discussion of the properties of the clay bodies of the undead. Satisfied with her answers, she directed Kirara back to the village, barely managing to stay awake for the entire ride back. She collapsed in the hut, exhausted, not even caring that tomorrow would be the big day.
* * *
When Kagome woke the next day she didn't even spare a glance at the journal. She hadn't for the two months she had been training, knowing that it would only depress her further. Instead, she pulled on her school uniform and headed down to get some breakfast.
Ji-chan, Souta, and her mother watched, amazed, as Kagome not only had seconds, but thirds and fourths as well. When she held out her bowl for a fifth helping, her brother finally asked, "What's the matter, nechan? You don't have any tests, and you're practically caught up on your school work."
"I need my energy. Today," she paused, and her eyes got a faraway look. "Today everything will change. The past and the future. I will need my strength."
She quickly finished off her last bowl and headed to the kitchen to clean up her dishes. Once done, she returned to the breakfast room and gave each of her family members a long hug. When she got to her mom, she whispered, "Thank you, Mama, for all the times you've supported me since this whole mess started."
"Kagome?" Her mother sounded a little worried. "You sound as if you are never coming back."
Kagome stiffened ever so slightly. Pulling out of the embrace, she flashed her mother a brilliant smile. "Why would you say that, Mama? Of course I'm coming back."
With that she grabbed her bag and headed to the well house. Once inside, she paused and took one last look at her home. "I'm sorry," she said. "It has to be this way. Sayonara."
She jumped into the well. Only when she got to the other side did she allow a few tears to escape. Scolding herself furiously, she wiped away the tears. "Yosh!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands. "Let's get this day started."
"Is anybody there to help me out?" she called.
Sango's head appeared, and after the usual words were spoken, she helped her out of the well. If Sango was curious about her silence and concentration, she said nothing about it. Kagome was mentally preparing for the first step in her plan. She wouldn't have thought it possible, but over the past two months she had gotten used to Naraku's vision. She hadn't seen it yesterday, perhaps because she had been riding Kirara far away by then, and she hoped that the missed day would give her some perspective.
It did. The vision had just as much affect as the first time. Her blood ran cold at the mere pieces of her friends that she could see. But it turned to ice at Naraku's words.
When the words faded, she called out desperately in her mind, 'Wait! I'll... go. I'll give myself up to you. But you must promise not to hurt them!'
"Of course, girl," said Naraku, his oily voice dripping down her nerves. "I give my word!"
'Can...' she paused, for this was a crucial point. 'Can I make one request?'
"What?" Naraku asked, amused.
'Kohaku,' Kagome thought, letting her mental voice tremble. 'Let Sango see Kohaku, without his attacking her, when Kagura comes to g-get me.'
"I think I can manage that," Naraku said with a chuckle.
'Thank you,' Kagome hated the groveling note in her voice, but recognized the necessity for it. 'I will be at the Goshinboku when the sun sets.'
"I will send the boy with Kagura at that time," her enemy said, practically crowing with triumph.
Kagome opened her eyes to find herself shaking and Sango looking at her in concern. "It's nothing," she said. "Just the first successful step in a very complex plan."
Sango would have to content herself with that, for Kagome would say no more. Instead, she practically ran to Kaede's hut and threw her bag down beside it. Digging through the bag, she came up with the jar of Shikon shards. Quickly, she knelt and formed a barrier around herself, questing for the first shard. It was the closest, the one inside the youkai tree. Reaching out carefully, she plucked the shard and called it to her. Having practiced for weeks, the shard came easily to her bidding. It even dissolved the barrier as it arrived in her hand.
She blinked herself out of the meditation and looked for Kouga, hoping she hadn't been too late. She needn't have worried. Inuyasha and Kouga were still fighting. From their positions she could guess that Kouga had tried to disturb her, but Inuyasha had blocked him before he could. Stretching sore muscles, she calmly stepped into the middle of the fight.
"Stop, Kouga, Inuyasha," she called. She hoped that the lack of honorifics would at least give them pause. When it did, she continued, "I don't have time for this now. Kouga-kun, could you come back at sunset? I'll be at the Goshinboku."
This earned at quick agreement and a smirk of triumph from the wolf. Inuyasha started growling, but after Kouga had left, Kagome assured him that he would be there, too. That issue settled, she reached for the shards again. This time she gave Shippo firm instructions to disturb her if another fight occurred. The second shard was farther away, and she wanted to be certain not to miss Sesshomaru. However, she needn't have worried so much. Three shards worked far better than the two she had previously had, and she was able to extract the shard that would eventually go to Kikyo and reunite it with the others shortly. She even had time for a little lunch before Sesshomaru arrived.
When he did show up, she started running immediately. Even so, she reached the clearing where Rin and Jaken waited just ahead of Naraku's youkai. It seemed that his 'promise' of no harm did not extend to the young human girl, not that she had expected it to.
"Rin!" she gasped. "You are in danger here! We have to go to Sesshomaru-sama now!"
"How do you know Rin's name?" the little girl asked.
"Fluffy-sama told me," Kagome said, remembering what had persuaded Rin all those months ago.
The child went to her just as the youkai burst into the clearing. This time on the way back she ran into Miroku and Sango. She barely paused in her flight, but heard them begin to guard her rear. Finally she made it back to Inuyasha and Sesshomaru and dove for the youkai lord. She allowed herself to catch her breath while the others dealt with the rest of the youkai.
"Rin," Sesshomaru summoned when the battle was over. The little girl detached herself from Kagome and trotted over. Sesshomaru checked the girl visually for injuries, then turned to Kagome. "How?" he asked.
Kagome extended her aura so that it just barely touched the lord's youki. "I just knew," she said. "I would discuss this with you further, Sesshomaru-sama. Can you come to the Goshinboku this evening at sunset?"
Sesshomaru quirked an eyebrow at the honorific, but nodded in acceptance. Kagome bowed as he left to collect Jaken.
Inuyasha turned to Kagome as soon as his brother was gone. "What's all this about sunset?"
"The second stage in a plan to save everyone," Kagome replied.
She settled down by the just to collect the last shard. This one was the hardest to find, and not even her extra two shards could help. She quested all afternoon, and just before dinner managed to call the shard to her. She sighed in exhaustion. Nothing could have prepared her for the amount of work she had done today. Her stomach reminded her that she had had very little food since early this morning, and she stood, stretched, and walked into the hut in search of food.
The others were already eating when she got in, but she tossed the jar of shards at Inuyasha anyway. He caught it reflexively and looked at her questioningly.
"It's part of what I've been doing all day," Kagome said, accepting a bowl from Kaede and the jar from Inuyasha. "Right there are all the Shikon shards that had yet to be collected. Two on Kouga, one on Kohaku, and Naraku has the rest."
She ate her dinner, aware that the others were staring at her open mouthed. Once done, she excused herself and went to change into miko robes and prepare the rosaries. Carrying them and her school clothes under one arm, she stuck her head back into the hut. "The sun has almost set," she said. "Shall we go to the Goshinboku?"
The others gathered their things and followed her. When they reached the clearing she leaned against the tree. Slowly she built a complex barrier and extended it through out the clearing.
"This barrier protects against evil actions," she said. "Any action given with evil intent will be reflected on the giver." At their perplexed looks she sighed. "Miroku-sama," she said resignedly, "Grope me."
Miroku's eyes widened, but he moved to comply. As his hand connected with her butt his eyes widened even further, and he spun around. Kagome burst out laughing. At the others questioning looks she explained, "He felt his own hand on his own butt!"
Sango began to giggle merrily and even Kirara seemed to be chuckling at the monk's predicament. Kagome stiffened after a while, for the first of the visitors had arrived.
Kouga.
After giving the proper warnings, he was invited inside. He glanced around before turning to Kagome. "What did you want with me here?" he asked.
"I need your shards," Kagome said. "I know that they won't be returned, but I can almost guarantee the destruction of Naraku if you give them up."
Kouga thought for a while, then shrugged and agreed. As Kagome was removing the shards from Kouga's legs, Inuyasha burst out with, "What the hell? Why the fuck are you giving them up so easily? I was supposed to beat them out of you!"
Kouga blinked coolly at the hanyou. "*You* aren't my woman," he replied blandly.
Inuyasha was saved from a response by the arrival of his brother. The warnings given, he stepped into the clearing with Rin and Jaken. Rin spotted Kouga and hid behind Sesshomaru. Kagome was confused for a second, but then remembered something. Almost smacking herself on the head for her forgetfulness, she slowly approached Rin. Kneeling down, she said, "Hello Rin, do you remember me from this afternoon?"
Rin nodded. "You are the one that saved Rin's life."
"My name is Kagome," she extended a hand. "I would like you to meet someone."
The child tentatively took her hand, and Kagome led her over to Kouga. "You remember him, too, don't you?" she asked when Rin hid in her robes.
"Yes, Kagome-nesan," Rin said. "He told the bad wolves to go after Rin."
There was a soft growling behind them, but a firm glance at the barrier reminded Sesshomaru of the results of any action on his part. Kagome gently brought the girl in front of her.
"He's not a bad guy anymore, Rin. He's saved my life many times, and he doesn't hurt humans anymore. In fact, he is the reason you travel with Sesshomaru-sama now. He won't hurt you anymore, I promise." A glance up at Kouga had him nodding in agreement.
"Really?" Rin asked.
"I swear," Kagome replied.
"Okay!" Rin exclaimed, and trotted back to Sesshomaru.
Kagome stood, facing Sesshomaru, and to everyone's apparent surprise began growling at him. There was complete silence when she finished.
The youkai lord was the first to recover from the shock. "How do you know those words?" he asked. "I never granted you a debt."
There was a sharp intake of breath from Sango, but Kagome replied calmly, "Yes you did. I am from the future, a future where Rin truly was kidnapped today. I allowed myself to be tortured instead of her for the month we were confined together. When you discovered this, you took great pains to teach me the pronunciation, so I could redeem the debt from any dog demon. I redeem it now from you."
"What do you require?" Sesshomaru said.
"In a little bit," she said, "a boy will come to this clearing, one that is severely injured. He will die, and all I require is that you heal him."
During the pause while Sesshomaru thought, Jaken protested. "It is absolutely absurd that Sesshomaru-sama should be in debt to a human. Lord, she is obviously making this up. We should go-"
"Alright," Sesshomaru nodded. "The Tenseiga seems to want it, and the sword has never led this Sesshomaru wrong before." He was staring at Rin as he said this.
Kagome released a breath that she didn't even realize she had been holding, only to catch it again as the soul stealers signaled the arrival of the third guest. Kikyo stood at the edge of the barrier, studying it.
"You recognize the barrier?" Kagome asked. "You will not be harmed, but you will not harm either."
Kikyo looked at her reincarnate for a long moment before slowly stepping past the barrier. She moved to the center of the clearing, saying in a challenging tone, "This is an interesting assortment of people you have here."
Kagome met her at the center of the clearing. Placing a hand on the other other's chest, she began to call her soul back to herself. Kikyo's arm snapped up to the younger girl's chest, resisting the change. Both girls stiffened and closed their eyes.
Kagome's eyes opened to find a very angry Inuyasha facing off with her. Behind him Kikyo had been thrown to the ground. She took a step back. She hadn't been this scared of Inuyasha since before the rosary was put on him. "Dammit, Kikyo!" he yelled. "What have you done to her? I swear, Kikyo, if you gave done anything..." he trailed off, speechless in his rage.
'What?' she thought. 'Oh, he thinks I'm...' "Kikyo, Kikyo, Kikyo," Kagome said softly. "Listen, you, my name is Kagome, KA-GO-ME!"
All of this was said in a near whisper, but it seemed to floor Inuyasha. He glanced at the miko behind him then at the creation of clay before him. "Kagome?" he whispered doubtfully.
She nodded and went to help Kikyo to her feet. "Are you okay?" she asked the miko.
"Yes," she said, "but why? Why do this?"
"Three reasons," she said. "One, he loves you, and you two never got a chance. I am not of this time, and you belong here. I was never supposed to be here in the first place. Two, something that you said when we first talked. I had just told you of Naraku's deception, and you responded with, 'The dead only wish for life again.' Third, it was the only way for the plan to work, short of killing you."
"Plan?" Kikyo asked, but apparently Kagome's memories were surfacing in Kikyo's mind, because she had no ears for any answer Kagome might give.
Satisfied that she was reviewing the plan, Kagome went to her clothes. Casting a quick glance at Miroku, she brought up a barrier that was really nothing more than pretty lights, but allowed her the privacy to change. Once in her school uniform, she concentrated, hard, on the clay body she currently inhabited. If Enju was correct, then she should be able to... she felt the change, her hair shortened, her skin got a little tanner, and her whole body seemed to settle at age 15 again. It seemed that the clay bodies responded to the souls within them, not the original casting. Satisfied with her appearance, she let down the barrier and looked across at Kikyo.
The miko shrugged. "It is a good plan," she said. "If Kagura will agree then it might even work. But, girl, have you thought, with that body-"
"I know," Kagome interrupted.
Kikyo shrugged again. "What have we got to lose?"
"Shippo," Kagome responded. "Kouga, Kirara, Sesshomaru, Rin-"
Kikyo cut her off with a hand jerk. Kagome started over to Kikyo, but halfway there she stumbled and fell. She glanced up to see the soul stealers circling above, ready with souls to fill her body. Shaking her head violently, she refused to let them in.
"Come on, child," Kikyo said, suddenly there with her arms around her. "You just gave me a whole list of very good reasons to succeed, but you will fail if you can't move. Besides," she whispered, "they will not be used for long, you know that."
Shuddering, Kagome nodded, and the soul stealers were let in. They left quickly after doing their work, leaving the girl on the ground, her frame racked with dry sobs. Slowly, Kagome sat up, but her eyes were dry. "I can't cry," she said. "This body won't allow me to." She turned to Kikyo, and raised a hand to the other's cheek. "You're crying for me."
Kikyo blinked sharply, unashamed of the tears running down her face. "So, I am," she said, and paused in wonder. "It's been so long."
The moment did not last long, for Kagura and Kohaku had finally come.
"Kagome," Kouga practically spit her name out. "You didn't say she would be here." He made 'she' into an expletive. He prepared to fight.
"Remember the barrier Kouga-kun," Kagome snapped. "You two can kill each other after I'm done with you."
She turned back to Naraku's minions. The explanation of the barrier was given, and they, too, accepted the condition and entered. Kohaku immediately jumped off the feather and stood, more like a doll then a living boy. Sango choked her breath on a sob. Kagome waked over and plucked the shard from the boy's back, allowing him to die in her arms. She glanced at Sesshomaru, but the youkai already had his sword out and ready to strike. Kagome laid the boy on the ground, and Sesshomaru swiped the sword over his body. Almost immediately the boy's eyes opened.
"Aneue?" he questioned. Sango came barreling in from the side, and many explanations and apologies were given before he cried himself to sleep.
Kagome, meanwhile, had turned to Kagura and offered her her freedom. Kagura agreed to the plan, and Kagome went to gather to the rosaries from the base of the Goshinboku.
"Here is the plan," she said as she passed rosaries to Jaken, Sesshomaru and Kouga. "Kagura will take me and the shards to Naraku, then hurry back here. I will complete the Shikon no Tama, then Kikyo and I will combine auras to make my powers mature, killing Naraku. Miroku will concentrate on a spell in these rosaries, protecting the youkai here from my miko power." She paused, thinking. "You might want to put Tetsusaiga and Tenseiga in the ground in Naraku's direction, as additional protection."
She knelt in front of Shippo. "I want to go with you," the little fox said.
"Shippo-chan, it is far too dangerous," she said. "But remember, I will always be with you, in your heart." She slipped some beads over his neck.
She turned next to Inuyasha. "Don't," he said, pleading. "It's dangerous for you as well."
"I watched all of you die the first time, Inuyasha," she said. "But in case this doesn't work," she pulled the rosary off of his neck, "and he some how manages to control me, I don't want to have any special power over you."
She kissed his cheek, gave him one of the protection rosaries, and turned to Sango. "Thank you so much," Sango said.
Kagome slipped a necklace over Kirara's head. "You watch over both of them for me," she told the cat. Turning to Sango, she said, "Remember that he does love you." She indicated Miroku with her head. "And when this is all over, hit him once for groping me."
Finally, she turned to Miroku. "That body is clay," he started, but Kagome was already nodding.
She gathered his right hand in her own. "If this doesn't work," she said, "the nearest date I can give you is three months from now. But I have no idea if that was the curse itself or Naraku's doing. In any case, my advice would be to love her while you can. It is infinitely preferable to the alternative, which is never to know love."
Miroku nodded, and Kagome joined Kagura, who was waiting impatiently on her feather. Kagome released the barrier, and they started off towards Naraku. As they flew, Kagome handed the two remaining rosaries to Kagura. At her raised eyebrow, Kagome said, "For you and Kanna. I assumed that you wanted to save you sister."
Kagura nodded. "How can you be sure that Naraku doesn't know?" she asked. "My sister could have been spying on us the entire time."
"She was trying, but she couldn't make it through the barrier. He doesn't know. Be sure not to put the rosaries on until you get back to the clearing," she said. "It will be my signal to begin."
They arrived at the castle, and Kagura led Kagome to Naraku's chambers. A glance from Naraku had her leaving.
"Well?" said Naraku, leering at her in her uniform. "Where are they?"
Kagome blinked, and then fished out the eight shards she had collected. Reaching out a hand, she called the rest to her and completed the jewel. She stared at the ball in her hand. After all of that work, months and months of preparation, it seemed a little anticlimactic to simply complete it like that. The first time had involved a large light show and a huge power struggle, but it seemed that Naraku was willing to let her keep it for a bit. After all, he thought that she was completely in his power, and she was not doing anything to purify the jewel yet.
She wandered the room, waiting for her signal and trying to ignore Naraku as much as possible. She was nervous, but as she stared around the room she realized something. Despite what she told Kikyo earlier, she did need to be here. Naraku had given this vision to her, not Kikyo. She, Higarashi Kagome, was the only one who could do this, at this time, in this place. She seemed to have been brought back to the past on her 15th birthday solely for such a time as this.
She located Kagura's and Kanna's hearts almost immediately, so when the signal came, she grabbed them close. As Myoga had saved himself in the final battle, she clutched the jars with the hearts as close as she could to herself, protecting them from danger. The power surged around her, purifying the Shikon no Tama and her own body. After all, the undead were impure.
And she exploded in a blast of pink light.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The End
A/N: Ok, so the dream sequence at the beginning took five major revisions, but the rest went pretty smoothly. I think. My attempts at angst may fall woefully short, but oh well. Some of the jokes just popped in with out my approval, so blame me writing at 2 in the morning if you don't like some of them.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Review responces
FF.net
Sammyosa92: glad you liked it last time. So here's my attempt at angst. I seem to be much better at fluff.
Sarah H : Glad you liked it!
Ghoul King: Is that strange in a good way? In any case, here is another chapter for you to puzzle over.
Kaagome: favs lists are wonderful things. Especially when I go to my author page and see more people have listed me there. YAY! Thanks.
nekomoongirl: ummmm....sorry? But it was supposed to make you cry! She died!
Aamalie: That was the last "day" in this fic. So what happens from now on.....is really interesting.
Dark Hanyou: You sneaked in just in time for this chapter! I seriously was going to talk with my beta reader when your review appeared in my mail box! I update once a week though, so don't be expecting the next chapter till next weekend!
Media Miner
Black Rose Lady: Well...I kinda ripped out a couple of plotlines and reversed them, so its not really original, I think. And you can thank my beta reader, Lori, for the grammar stuff. (I am merely a typo nazi, I know nothing about grammer). I am updating as quick as I possibly can! I promise!
Aditu: You were right. I knew that I hadn't written myself into a corner, but I wanted to fake everybody out. And yes, last chapter's cliffhanger will come in handy in the next chapter, which is *Gasp* nearly all in Kikyo's perspective! WAAAAAAA! I am gonna need psychiatric care after this!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Too tired for parodies
WS
PS: was just kidding bout the "The End" really. Don't flame me for that please!